About us

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and SSC cooperate in the field of sounding rocket and balloon activities. The cooperation project is named EuroLaunch. The agreement between both partners was signed December 8th 2003 at Esrange Space Center. Both organisations have provided launch operation services to scientists and space organisations in Europe and worldwide since the late sixties. The EuroLaunch agreement strengthens the existing cooperation between DLR and SSC.

DLR and SSC are well equipped for supporting most types of sounding rocket and balloon missions using Esrange Space Center, the SSC launch facilitiy, as the prime range or any other worldwide location depending on the scientific mission requirements. Esrange is located north of the Arctic Circle near Kiruna in northern Sweden. It provides systems and capabilities for the launch of sounding rockets and stratospheric balloons. A unique land impact area of 5200 square kilometers offers an economical advantage for recovery and re-flight of experiments.

DLR-MORABA, located at the DLR Space Center in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, provides mobile infrastructure and capabilities for the launch of sounding rockets and support for balloon missions.

DLR and SSC exhibit more than 35 years of successful cooperation, now concentrated in the EuroLaunch project. It gained manifold experiences from supporting research projects in a wide variety of scientific fields. The coordination of services and infrastructure of both organisations provides an efficient, flexible and cost effective partner for sounding rockets and balloon missions. A large number of launch operations is a guarantee for the capability of the EuroLaunch cooperation project.